Israeli gunfire near a medical point in central Gaza supported by Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) seriously injured a woman and her child this morning, forcing patients and medical staff to evacuate, the British charity said. It is the second MAP-supported facility to be evacuated after Israeli gunfire in less than a week.

The shooting took place in Abu Madeen, between Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi, in Deir al-Balah, where MAP’s partner, the Culture and Free Thought Association (CFTA), runs the medical point. 

Stray bullets hit the clinic, damaging a water tank on the roof. CFTA evacuated all patients and medical staff, with around 40 patients inside the clinic at the time. It remains unclear whether services will resume tomorrow.

Less than a week ago, Israeli military quadcopter gunfire killed a 65-year-old patient inside a MAP-supported medical point in Jabalia, northern Gaza, run by MAP’s partner, the Al-Awda Health and Community Association.

Mohammed Al Hour, a MAP community health worker who lives nearby, said: “The gunfire has not stopped since midnight last night. I was at home, and the shooting just continued. I wouldn’t say we have got used to it, because people don’t really have many choices. They have to carry on with their lives and meet their basic needs.